Refrigerant Leak Detection and External Release in Usage-Side Cooling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional refrigeration apparatuses are unable to completely block refrigerant flow even when control valves are closed, leading to potential safety issues due to increased refrigerant concentration in usage-side spaces during leaks.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a refrigerant release mechanism and a controller that detects leaks and initiates a sequence to close the first control valve and open the refrigerant release mechanism, ensuring the refrigerant is released externally rather than accumulating in usage-side spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a control valve is controlled to have a minimum opening degree to prevent refrigerant flow toward the usage unit, then the flow of refrigerant is suppressed, but a small amount of refrigerant still flows through the control valve and accumulates in the usage-side space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the harmful refrigerant that accumulates in the usage-side space through a release mechanism. When a leak is detected, the release mechanism opens to discharge the refrigerant from the usage-side space to the external environment, thereby removing the harmful substance that cannot be prevented by the control valve alone.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of only trying to prevent refrigerant flow through the control valve, the patent inverts the approach by providing a dedicated path for refrigerant discharge. The release mechanism creates an intentional escape route for refrigerant, reversing the conventional thinking of only blocking flow paths.
2Reliability
If the control valve is brought into a closed state to maximize prevention of refrigerant flow, then refrigerant flow is minimized, but the valve structure still forms a minute flow path allowing small amounts of refrigerant to pass
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful minute flow path of the control valve into a beneficial detection opportunity. The refrigerant that leaks through the control valve's minute flow path is detected by the leak detection device, triggering the release mechanism to discharge accumulated refrigerant, thereby turning the control valve's structural limitation into part of the safety system.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If a refrigerant release mechanism is added to discharge refrigerant from the refrigerant circuit, then refrigerant accumulation is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The release mechanism is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a normal refrigerant discharge path during operation and as an emergency release mechanism when leaks are detected. By integrating this single component to perform multiple functions, the patent reduces the need for separate dedicated components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a refrigeration apparatus with improved safety. A refrigeration apparatus includes: a compressor; a heat source-side expansion valve to be controlled to have a minimum opening degree and brought into a closed state in which the heat source-side expansion valve maximizes prevention of a flow of a refrigerant toward a usage-side refrigerant circuit; a fusible plug; a controller; and a refrigerant leak detector configured to detect a refrigerant leak at the usage-side refrigerant circuit. The fusible plug is disposed in a refrigerant circuit, and is brought into an open state to allow the refrigerant circuit to communicate with an external space. When the refrigerant leak detector detects a refrigerant leak at the usage-side refrigerant circuit, the controller performs refrigerant leak first control to bring the heat source-side expansion valve into the closed state, and performs refrigerant leak second control to bring the fusible plug into the open state.